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Three
generations fishing. Photo courtesy of
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) , NOAA
Central Library.
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Effective
fisheries management relies on biological information on the fish
resource, as well as economic and social sciences information on
commercial and recreational fishermen and other stakeholders. Economic
information includes information on market conditions in commercial
fisheries (price and value information), as well as complementary
information on recreational fisheries. Social sciences information
is typically broader sources of information specific to commercial
and recreational fishermen, their families, and the fishing community
in general. For many managed fisheries economic and social sciences
information is not available and is provided in an informal manner
by fishermen during public comment periods. At times, this information
is viewed as anecdotal and may be difficult to use in the fishery
management decision-making process. |
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The Commission
has initiated several activities to improve the way social and
economic information is incorporated into the decision-making
process. These activities are guided by the Commission’s
Committee on Economics and Social Sciences, which is composed
of state, federal and university economists and social scientists.
Specific activities focus on the following:
- Inclusion
of social and economic information in Commission fishery management
plans and amendments,
- Conducting
educational seminars to improve the usefulness of social and
economic information by fisheries managers,
- Evaluation
of methods to directly link economic data into biological stock
assessments (bioeconomic modeling),
- Development
of policy issue papers to assist fisheries managers in making
broad-based decisions on issues such as individual transferable
quotas and cumulative effects of season closures, and
- Development
of social and economic data collection programs for commercial
and recreational fisheries, as well as fishing communities.
Data collection programs are incorporated in the Atlantic
Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) for implementation
by Atlantic coast state and federal fisheries management agencies.
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Contacts
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Documents
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Upcoming
Meetings
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FMPs
with Socioeconomic Sections
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| Program
Update |
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Meeting
Summaries
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| Message
Board |
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